Local designer among Ghana’s top fashionistas

Ghanaian based Malawi fashion designer Alinafe Misomali has been rated as among top 10 fashion designers in the West African nation.

From the list, she is the only foreigner to make the cut as rated by one of the leading fashion and designing blogs, Fashion Public Relations.

According to an article on the blog, Misomali is among top Ghanaian fashion brands for 2015, because these brands “have created brands that transcended barriers and borders and have pushed the PR button a little real hard in 2015 through each collection, photography for their lookbooks, social media, websites, nominations and awards, fashion shows, celebrity placements and features and the media buzz that comes with it.”

While it has been an eventful year for Ghana with fashion activities such as fashion awards, fashion weeks and shows which gave designers the opportunity to exhibit their collections, the top 10 designers have gone over the top by communicating even “the very little things that their brands have been doing all year, thus gaining industry and media attention.”

Specifically on Misomali, the blog says: “The interesting and exciting thing about this brand is that it gained three nominations in 2015 at the Fashion Icons Awards, Glitz Style Awards and the Ghana Fashion Awards thus grabbing the attention of many industry players.

“Being a former Vlisco Fashion Fund winner, the brand has collaborated with Vlisco on a number of projects throughout the year. Celebrity musician Irene Logan is mostly seen in an Alinafe outfit.”

In an interview, the designer says her hard work has paid off.

“It was a complete surprise to have found my name there. I know I worked really hard in 2015, got three nominations, attended major fashion shows here but to be among the top 10 was a shock and still is. This is all about hard work. I worked too hard in the just ending year,” she explained.

She says trying to portray Malawi through her designs has always been a challenge, but she is trying.

“It’s not easy I tell you. It’s a serious task. I know I have everyone’s eyes on me from back home and there’s need for me to keep raising the flag. Every fashion designer here is spectacular. You have to be really odd to get to the top and stay there. I’m doing everything I can to get there,” she stated.